Do The Next Right Thing

If caregivers mapped out a decision tree for our daily lives, it would look like a forest. Each day we’re faced with numerous choices—and most seem filled with unpleasant outcomes. Sometimes the decisions before us have a paralyzing effect, and we don’t know what to do next.

In those moments, we serve ourselves well to choose the next right thing as our action step. The big problems become more approachable when our heads and hearts calm down. 

For that to happen, our decisions require “reduction.” 

Unlike the giant single unpleasant task of “eating the elephant one bite at a time,” decision reduction helps us focus by redirecting our eyes from the myriad choices to the micro-steps in our path. Maybe the next right thing is to drink water, sit down with a bowl of soup, take a nap, or even go for a walk. Although the problem usually remains, we tackle it better with a calmer and more disciplined mind. 

When offered this path, we invariably know the next right thing to do; we just usually need permission—not from others but ourselves.

The Bible supports this when affirming that God’s Word is “a lamp unto my feet.” 

It’s a lamp, not a searchlight. 

Do the next right thing—with the light provided.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. —Henry David Thoreau